Playing with only eight players due to suspensions of seven others,
Wisconsin surprised Big Ten rival Michigan State 77-45 in a quarterfinal of the
Women's National Invitation Tournament Wednesday night.

"I think my team was a very motivated team tonight," said coach Jane
Albright. "I think they were all the things that a coach dreams about having a
team be. They played with a lot of heart, they executed their offense, they hit
their outside jumpers, they hit the boards hard."

Wisconsin shot 48.3 percent from the field and, despite employing a
three-guard lineup, outrebounded the bigger Spartans, 45-27. Michigan State hit
just 37.7 percent of its shots against a variety of Wisconsin defenses.

Wisconsin dressed just eight people for the game after Albright handed down
one-game suspensions to seven players Tuesday for violating an unspecified team
rule. Athletics officials refused comment on news reports that the violation
involved drinking.

None of that seemed to matter, however, as Wisconsin, which tied with the
Spartans for fifth place in the Big Ten this season, coasted into the WNIT
semifinals. UW advanced to a semifinal Saturday in Madison against Colorado
State (23-9), which beat Long Beach State 65-63.

The disciplinary action only applied to Wednesday night's game, so the seven
players can return for the rest of tournament play.

Arkansas (17-14), which beat Wisconsin in last year's WNIT final, will be
host to Florida (20-12) in the other semifinal Saturday.

The loss ended Karen Langeland's run of 24 years as head coach at Michigan
State (19-12). Langeland, who announced she would retire at the end of this
season in January, refused to meet with the media after the game, but did issue
a statement.

"I certainly didn't expect the season to end like this," Langeland said.
"I give Wisconsin all the credit, because they were an inspired basketball
team and they did what they needed to do to win this contest."